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October 6, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: Calvin Bisbee is making arrangements to build a house on his Clark Street lot.
Gilman Bean has taken out the post office boxes within his store and replaced them with new shelves and has filled them with new goods.
The street sewer of 13 inch pipe is being laid on the east side of Main Street from the outlet brook near Brown’s hardware store to the Common.
D.M. Grover has bargained for the Pinckney Burnham place down Mill Hill.
The spool mill of the Bethel Steam Mill has started up for a short run.
October 13, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: Bethel station agent M.W. Chandler and his wife will leave for the World’s Fair next week. Chandler has not had a vacation in 13 years and has been a Grand Trunk employee for 23 years.
Bethel Chair factory has been running evenings for the past two weeks to fill orders and the prospects for the winter are very flattering.
John B. Chapman, one of the selectmen of Bethel is overseeing the work of putting in a sewer system on Main and High Streets.
Calvin Bisbee has spent several hundred dollars on the lot just east of his house lot; he will make it into a small farm.
At a special meeting of the Women’s Relief Corps, the visiting inspector, Mrs. Howe of Lewiston spoke on the subject of a State home for disabled soldiers and their wives. Skowhegan is now talked of as the location for this home.
The foundation for the new brick school house on High Street is being put in.
At the Gould Academy Lyceum the debate question was: That a trade or profession is as important for a young lady as a young man.
A Chapman National Bank has been organized in Portland with Cullen C. Chapman president. Mr. Chapman is a Bethel boy and son of the late R.A. Chapman. He is also a brother-in-law of Judge Foster.
Elmer D. Cole and wife will go to Washington this week to live. Some of their household goods will be moved to Portland for further shipment by boat. He has received a good offer to engage in the jewelry business there. His business reverses make it necessary for him to make this move, which he regrets. He and his brother Fred have dissolved their partnership.
Mail closing schedule at the Bethel Post Office is as follows: Down train going east, early morning, 9 P.M. evening before. Late morning train—9:15 A.M. Afternoon express—3:15 P.M. Up trains going west 9:50 A.M., 4:15 P.M. Morning mail open at 7 A.M.
We were permitted to read a letter from the Hastings and Straws of Montana. They have about six thousand sheep and are cutting all the hay they can as they cannot sell to any advantage. Wool and sheep are a defunct industry and it is dreary times in the West. Forty families near them are now helped by the town. We in Bethel ought to be thankful for the good and prosperous times here with good wages and enough to do.
Wilson’s Mills: John Olson returned Saturday from Parmachenee where he has been guiding for a month past.
October 20, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: The fall term of Gould Academy is one of the most successful in many years. About 80 students in attendance.
The Bethel House is now run by Clinton Lovejoy.
Mr. Wyman (Bethel corn factory) has put up 250,000 cans of sweet corn in Bethel this year. The best day’s work was 32,000 cans. Mr. Wyman said that in the state this year the corn crop was about one-half but in the Bethel area there was three-quarters of a crop.
Gould Academy won the athletic field competition held at the South Paris fair grounds. Gould competed against Hebron, Norway High School and Bridgton. Gould will hold the gold cup for a year.
North Newry: The Poplar Hotel has been purchased by Portland parties and is now undergoing extensive repairs.
October 27, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: It is feared that M. O’Riley, station agent at West Bethel was killed the railroad accident near Chicago last week as he has not been heard from. (In the November 3rd paper, we find he returned safe and sound as he was on a train 20 minutes behind the one that was wrecked.)
E.W. Barker has bought Bond Island of H.B. Chapman.
The Methodist held their annual harvest fair with good success.
Wilson’s Mills: Mrs. John Olson is at the lower town helping to care for her mother, Mrs. M. W. Fickett who is growing more feeble.
Hastings: The Wild River Lumber Company’s mill started full blast Monday.
North Newry: Workmen are making a big improvement at Poplar Hotel.
November 3, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: John M. Philbrook sent off a car load of steers and cows to Brighton this week.
Seventy five tramps visited Berlin, NH and Gorham last Friday. Being booted out of town the left down the railroad Saturday and Sunday A.M. They made their appearance in Bethel Sunday night. Bethel lockup was overrun with them. Some of them occupied box cars and many took possession of barns laying on the hay in many cases. After a cool reception and being directed to the lockup when they called at private homes, the took up their beds and left Monday and Tuesday down the tracks, thanking Bethel people for their kind reception.
We learn the Cross store on Main Street near Gilman Bean’s store is to be taken down and a new building is soon to be erected on the same spot, two stories high. The old store is over 100 years old.
Mr. (Dana) Philbrook has moved into his new house on Mechanic Street.
The foundation for the new school is finished but the main building will not be erected until spring.
Mr. C.C. Bryant lives a mile from the village on Middle Interval road. He owns a good farm which is kept in fine condition and owns a store on the Hill where he keeps groceries and Chicago beef. He also runs a meat cart and ice cart. Near his house he has fenced off a pasture for keeping fat sheep and lambs. Everybody knows Chauncey. Twenty years ago he was a poor boy. He worked several years for the late William W. Mason; now he is worth $5,000; he owns several houses in the village.
Wilson’s Mills: J.S. Danforth and family with E. Rogers came down from Camp Caribou last week en route to Florida.
Gould Academy: The Oxford County Teachers’ Convention was held Friday and Saturday at the academy and was well attended—about 120 teachers from the different towns in the county. Norway sent the greatest number of teachers. Prof. (State Superintendent of Schools) Luce presided and Prof. Robertson of Bowdoin was present to make it one of the most successful conventions ever held in Bethel. Prof. Hanscom gave an interesting paper on school government. (This was three years before Hanscom took over as principal at Gould Academy.)
Prof. Merriman of Bethel had prepared an excellent program. Prof. G.C. Purington of Farmington Normal School and Prof. W.W. Stetson of Auburn came from outside the county. Judge Woodbury of Bethel gave the welcoming address.
Bethel: Seventy-five tramps made an appearance in Berlin, New Hampshire and Gorham on Thursday. Friday night after they were booted out of town they made their way down the railroad tracks to Bethel where they appeared Sunday night. Bethel lockup was overrun with them. Two called on L.T. Barker for food; he told them the place for them was on High Street known as the lockup. The turnkey at the lockup, H.C. Barker worked like a tiger caring for their wants.
Some them occupied box cars on side track and others took up residence in barns and slept in the hay. After being treated so coolly by the citizens they thought it best to take up their beds and walk. Monday and Tuesday they left down the railroad tracks thanking Bethel people for their kind reception.
The Cross store on Main Street near Gilman Bean’s is to be taken down. A new building of two stories will be erected on the same lot soon. The old store is some 100 years old and not fit for use.
Magalloway Plantation: Mrs. John Olson was with her mother M. W. Fickett on Sunday, October 20. H.W. Fickett has sent to Colebrook, N.H., for his sick mother. W.L. Fickett and W.W. Linnell have taken a trip to Colebrook, N.H. Miss H.W. Fickett has had to give up her Sabbath school care in order to care for her mother. Mrs. A.W. Fickett of Errol is with her mother.
Rumford Falls: Five car loads of coal for the paper company arrived. Engineer Davis of the Portland and Rumford Falls Railway has moved into his new house.
A break in the water main last week caused great inconvenience to the water takers. Arrangements have been made so that the fire pumps of the paper company will be attached to the pipes of the water company. Thus able to keep up the supply in the event of another future accident to the main.
The Auburn Electric Company has put in a five horsepower motor for the Rumford Falls Publishing Co.
Bethel: The Wild River Lumber Co. will sell at public auction at the Grand Trunk depot in Bethel on November 4 at 1 P.M. twelve work horses suitable for lumber or farm use. They have contracted for about one-half of their logging this winter and have no use for the horses.
Hastings: We notice that the lockup at Gilead comes in rather handy at times and think it would be a good thing to have one at Hastings. And see if we could not stop so much of that horrid stuff from coming into the place.
The Wild River Lumber Co mill is running on full time now.
November 10, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: Henry Grisie of Hastings who had just served a sentence of 30 days in jail for malicious mischief was again arrested by Sheriff Wormel on a charge of assault on a young girl and tried before Justice J.G. Rich on November 6. By agreement of the father of the girl, Grisie is to marry her and the sentence was suspended for the present. The defendant had to pay costs.
The yearly communication of Bethel Lodge F & AM occurs November 9 along with election of officers.
Bethel Steam Mill: The spool mill will start Monday for a few days.
Bethel: Arrangements are being made for an illustrated lecture on the World’s Fair.
W.C.T.U have been making arrangements for a series of meetings to be held in the Bethel churches with the first one to be at the Universalist Church.
Mason: John Philbrook of Bethel was in town last week buying oxen and cows for the Brighton market.
There is a new disease broken out in this place which is quite an epidemic. We call it the poultry fever as several of our farmers are building hen houses. (News from West Bethel also mentions interest in raising poultry.)
Addison Bean is going to start a lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. It is a beneficiary order which gives the widow the snug little sum of $2,000 at death. They must have 20 names of charter members. The lodge will be at West Bethel. All interested address A.S. Bean, Box 22, West Bethel.
Rumford Falls: A small steam launch arrived here on the (railroad) cars here recently and was taken to the Rangeley Lakes where it will run another season.
Superintendent L.L. Lincoln of the Portland and Rumford Falls Railway has purchased a fine lot 92 x 160, corner Franklin Street and Plymouth Avenue, where he will soon erect a fine house.
November 17, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: Last Sabbath was a grand time for our churches. The occasion was a rally for temperance by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union advocates. Speeches made and stories told. Temperance meetings will be held in several churches on Sunday evenings.
The Editor of the Advertiser made a visit to Bethel.
Your correspondent (Abiel Chandler, Jr.) made a trip to West Bethel and to Pleasant brook in the (Fryeburg) Academy Grant. He reports on his trip and visits.
“The Frenchmen who recently came from Lewiston are cutting wood and birch for Mr. Bean, wood 90 cents a cord, birch 50 cents. They even make $2 a day at that. Nothing can stand beside a Frenchman cutting wood. The wood and lumber is hauled five miles where Mr. Bean works up the birch into spools and they are sent off to all parts of the world. Mr. Bean will work up at his mill 4,000 cords this coming season. He has 100 horses working in the woods. His business is immense. Next the tramp writer will visit up Wild River into Hastings town where an immense business is done.
For the past year some 10 cars (a day) of lumber have been manufactured and sent out the new railroad to Gilead and shipped down the Grand Trunk line. Berlin Falls, N.H., is nowhere compared with the business town of Hastings.”
November 24, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: Mr. (J.A.) Thurston is about to put up a steam mill for short lumber at Swan’s Corner on the site where Morrill’s mill burned.
Gilead and Bethel report their first snow storm on November 15th.
Rumford Falls: The town is soon to have a town hall. John Somers has the contract. The building will be on Canal Street, 30 x 78 feet and one story.
South Bethel: The ladies circle met at Mrs. R.J. Virgin’s home, supper was served and ten cents collected to go towards a circulating library.
R. J. Virgin is shingling the wall of his mill. Lewis Glidden has moved to the R.J. Virgin place near the mill to be closer to his work.
December 1, 1893 Advertiser
Rumford Falls: “The Paper Mill”, New York Illustrates the Rumford Falls Paper Co. as one of the “Big Four” paper manufacturers of the country in the race to secure the contract to furnish white paper to the New York World for 1894. The 1893 contract was about 15,000 tons.
Hastings: The Wild River Lumber Co has extended its track to the station at Gilead which makes it much more convenient for the passengers.
South Bethel: R.J. Virgin has bought the R.C. Lawrence farm in Albany and has let the job of cutting and hauling birch to his mill. And, William Clark is building a large hen house.
Bethel: The house owned by C.V. Stowell near the Mayville Cemetery was burnt last Friday P.M. Three children were sleeping in the chambers while the mother was out on an errand. When she returned she found the house on fire but she saved the children.
Spool Business Near Bethel:
(This article was written by Abial Chandler, Jr. as a continuation of his reports from a visit to the Fryeburg Academy Grant and Hastings.)
Starting at the “ Fryeburg Academy Grant, this is the smallest in acres of any town or plantation in Oxford County. The people are mostly well to do and live in good houses. North west lies a large tract of timber land mostly owned by A.S. Bean of West Bethel, from which lots of timber and birch is cut and manufactured into spool strips every year and shipped to all parts of the world. Several car loads are sent away every week. Mr. Bean will saw up some 4,000 cords of birch the coming year.
Bethel steam mill two miles down the line Grand Trunk line is run by J.P. and W.E. Skillings, and is another mill where many spools are manufactured and sent away.
Three miles further down the line at South Bethel is another mill owned by R.J. Virgin, where some 300 cords of birch are worked up into spools and dowels. Mr. Virgin owns a saw mill, where he saws out several hundred thousand lumber yearly.
Two miles further down is the extensive spool mill of Tibbetts at Locke’s Mills. The amount of spools shipped from this mill is very large.
At Newry Corner is another mill where several hundred cords of birch are manufactured into spools and dowels.
Three miles up from Newry Corner on Sunday River is another spool and dowel mill, where they work up 500 cords of birch.
Still further up in Ketchum is a spool strip mill where they cut up 2,000 cords of birch into spool strips.
While in Bethel village is the birch mill of E. Richardson & Son where for many years past from 1,000 to 1,050 cords have been cut into spool strips and dowels.
We challenge any place in the State of Maine within the limits of six miles where there are so many mills working up so much birch into spool strips and spools ready to be shipped.”
December 8, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: Ceylon Rowe has returned from Boston with a large stock of seasonal goods. He is a cash buyer and if any goods are cheap in the market he is bound to have them. We noticed him selling a nice black fur coat for $10.
Magalloway Plantation: Minnie Olson of Wilson’s Mills is with her sick grandmother for a while.
Rumford Falls: The new town hall is up and boarded.
East Bethel: Irving Kimball, Walter Bartlett, Charles Young and Albert Bartlett of this place are attending the winter term of Gould Academy.
December 15, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel Steam Mill: The mill is running now for a short time.
Bethel: A fire at Dana Philbrook’s home on Mechanic Street resulted in the loss of all his valuable stock but the shell of the building was saved. The fire department turned out quickly. Some of the hydrants were frozen but the boys soon had a strong stream playing on the fire. Mr. Philbrook has moved his damaged stock into the Cole Block and resumed business.
Huse Bros. have moved their families and goods from Bethel (Cole Block) to Kingfield.
J.M. Philbrook took a car load of cattle from Bethel to Brighton Market on Monday.
Gould Academy: Chandler reports that the academy opened its winter term with the largest attendance in 35 years. Number of students present is about 60.
December 22, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: J.M. Philbrook has sent about one thousand calves to the Brighton Market this past season.
Eastern (Oxford County) Land Conveyances: E.D. Cole (owner of the Cole Block building and the Odeon Hall), et al, to Bethel Savings Bank, $1.
December 29, 1893 Advertiser
Bethel: The Grand Trunk now runs two warm freight cars Tuesday and Thursday from Portland to Island Pond for the accommodation of shipment of articles likely to freeze.
Last Item for 1893
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Proposed new county buildings that would replace the building on Paris Hill. In 2007, the domed building houses the Oxford County court house, registry of probate and eastern registry of deeds. The western registry of deeds in locate in Fryeburg. |
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The Bethel Journals 1893 Journal Part IV, October to December October 27, 2007 |